reader question…

“Hi Jane!
I love your blog!
My sister and several friends love your blog! It is uplifting and so fun to read!
Who does your hair? It is so shiny and I love the color.
Barb from Logan”

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thank you Barb, you’re very sweet.

it was great {made my day, thank you!} to get a compliment on my hair after thinking i had literally fed it to the garbage disposal over the past couple of years! i prefaced this reader question with my vitamins post this morning, on purpose…

besides my daily vitamins, i also take biotin. biotin is a water-soluble B-complex vitamin which is often recommended for strengthening hair and nails.

as far as “who does my hair,” i am currently going to carrie at remedez hair salon and day spa, at the university mall, in orem. remedez hair salon is an ‘aveda‘ salon, and i am using their products which i really believe has helped my hair to grow & be less damaged over the past two years. If you are unfamiliar with Aveda, it is more natural and less damaging than some hair care lines. currently, as far as my color goes, i get highlights & lowlights about every 6-8 weeks, along with a trim at that time.

i use the ‘blue malva‘ shampoo as a daily shampoo, and i use the ‘blue malva‘ conditioner weekly to help keep my blonde bright. however, be careful with the conditioner or you will quickly have purple-grandma hair! i also use biolage products intermittently between my aveda products because my hair reacts really well when i change up the shampoo/conditioner on a regular basis. i recommend biolage hydrating shampoo & detangling solution for the daily conditioner, the conditioning balm is a great once-a-week deep conditioner.

after i shampoo/condition, i use very little product. my hair has a lot of natural wave to it, so when i leave it to air dry, i will add either aveda light elements smoothing fluid or biosilk. if i blow-out & round brush my hair, i use nothing. and i typically curl my hair on second-day hair, i use nothing to curl it. i despise hairspray.

in addition to this, i did briefly talk to my doctor last week… i feel like the hair on top of my head,the crown, is breaking faster than it’s growing these days. i realize that blow-drying, curling, flat-ironing is key to the damage. but i can’t tell if it’s breaking or not growing as well as the rest. i know it’s growing because the roots keep up with all the rest when it’s time for a color again! but, it’s breaking before it grows as long as the rest of my hair. does that even make sense? i try very hard to only have 1 or 2 days a week that i blow-dry, etc. to give my hair the love it needs.

but, my doctor did tell me… i could try rogaine. seriously!?! woah. woah. woah. what??? i was embarrassed he even said it! isn’t rogaine just for balding men?!?

nope.

my doctor explained that originally rogaine was a medicine to help with high blood pressure patients and they realized the patients were having improved hair growth because the medicine opens the blood vessels, allowing more circulation, promoting growth. so, without wanting the systematic affects, rogaine is an over the counter topical just for the scalp to promote the same hair growth. make sense?

i purchased {shhhh, hush} my first rogaine for women, today. {gasp!} we’ll see how it goes… it takes 4 months to see results. expect an update in early October.

i really don’t want to give up my highlights & lowlights which are probably still the cause of my hair breaking, so till that day comes…here’s hoping rogaine works!

*****

this is my first response to a new feature i’m offering, ‘reader questions.’

i am so far behind in responding to reader emails, please accept my most sincere apologies! you are in my thoughts…i’m trying to improve!!! don’t give up on me!